Favorite Comments

Hi Readers. Here is a sampling of some of my favorite Jack quotes from our days in the hospital:

1. The first night, witnessing nursing for the first time: "Why him eating out your arm?"

2. The second night: "Why him not eating out your breast?"

3. Second night also: "Why him not sticking out your belly no more?"

4. The day after eating strawberry pancakes and bacon at I-Hop with Chuck, Grandmommy and Gaga (my aunt BJ): "Me want pancakes and baking powder and strawberries."

Chuck had a great one too. This was said to Jamie the morning after Ryker's birth, in the middle of a string of really sweet comments: "Sweetie, you're a tramp." (He meant to say Champ and then was going to change that to Trooper, but it came out as Tramp - and he said it as sweet as can be.)

The Count Down is Over!

I would like to introduce the latest addition to the Van Nostrand family, Ryker Kelly Van Nostrand.  Ryker joined us June 24th at 9:30 AM.  He was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 20 inches long.

Jamie and Ryker are doing well and adjusting quite nicely to the new arrangement.  Jackson is thrilled to be a big brother and there should be no conflict between the two, ever.  Right?

Assume that many more pictures are coming as time allows so check back from time to time.

Chuck  

Geometry

This is Jack's wardrobe.

Last night I asked him to put a sock away in its drawer. I said it was one of the small squares. He reached up to the right one and put the sock in. Then he pointed at the top left one and said "dat square too." "Correct" I said. "Do you know what the shape is of the long one to the right?" He had said something close to "rectangle" a few days ago so I thought he might say that again.

Instead?

"Rhombus."

Chuck thinks he said "rumpus," as in the Wild Rumpus from Where the Wild Things Are. I choose to give our child more credit than that. =)

Quiz Answers

Okay readers - you guys are either the shyest group of people or no one is reading this board anymore! I'll choose to think it's the first. Actually, a number of you have emailed me separately or talked to me about the quiz. It's okay to post comments though - I promise the board doesn't bite.

1. Body hompf = Peanut Butter - he said this for a long time but doesn't anymore
2. Guys (not a trick question - he says this and means something specific) = Chuck and I (i.e. "Umm, guys?") - I've never heard him say this to or about anyone else, just us
3. Hatar = Guitar
4. Benture = Adventure
5. Body niece = Bernice (grandma)
6. Sunshines = Sunflowers
7. Tucker = Sucker/Lollipop
8. Puppet Movie = Muppet Movie
9. Jihad = Yee-Haw - this one had me confused, and REALLY worried, for a week or two until Chuck translated for me
10. Posscle = Popsicle
11. Mess Up = Make up, as in he wants you to make up a story - "Momma, you mess up this doggy please."

Vocab Test for Our Readers

Okay, dedicated readers. I think it's time for a Jackson Vocabulary Test. This might become a periodic addition to the blog - we'll see how you all do. Taking the test is simple - I'll list some words or phrases in Jackese (past and present) and you post comments (click on the link below the post) on what you think the adult equivalent is. Some of these have been posted about, some may be new to you.

The winner will get a big hug from me (or Jack). Or maybe a song sung to you by the dude himself. I'll post the answers in a few days.

Ready?

1. Body hompf
2. Guys (not a trick question - he says this and means something specific)
3. Hatar
4. Benture
5. Body niece
6. Sunshines
7. Tucker
8. Puppet Movie
9. Jihad
10. Posscle
11. Mess Up

Ending on an 11 is weird, but I can't think of the others right now.

Oh the Places He'll Go

Our nursery is complete! Okay, not the whole thing, but the mural is complete!

YIPPEEE!!!!

It's fantastic, if you ask me. I love it. I can sit in there for hours and just stare at it. That's a good thing too, because I'll probably be doing just that in a few short days.

Anyway, I updated Flickr yesterday but Marianne put the final touches on after that, so I've added a few extra photos this morning. You'll see that I couldn't get a final picture of the whole thing unobstructed because Chuck was so excited to get the crib in! There are several "Easter Eggs" (does anyone else know that term? I didn't - it means when people hide things in their work for others to find) that I took close ups of. I omitted one of those photos from this batch and will post it once the baby arrives.

I think Jack is nesting also because he and I spent a good hour in there yesterday putting things away. His contribution was to bring every blanket, stuffed animal and pillow he could find from his own room and then throw them into the crib, saying "me give this to my baby - me no need it anymore."

Anyway, a big THANK YOU to Marianne (who hopefully will be reading this post)! You did an amazing job and we're so lucky to have gotten to know you through this process.

What More Could a Dad Want?

I'm not a Dad, obviously, but if I WERE one, I think I would have loved this Father's Day.

First, instead of having some really creative present arrive at the house, Chuck had to pick his own. He swears he likes it better this way, but I always feel guilty. In any event, he chose an antennae for the TV in our bedroom and a DVD player. The day before Father's Day he had to spend several hours in the attic in 90+ degree heat to install the antennae. The best part? I'll be the one that uses it the most, as I'll be staying at home for the next 3 months.

Then came the REAL Father's Day. I cooked breakfast. Neat, huh?!

Then Chuck decided to wash the cars. Isn't that what all dads do on their special day?

We ate lunch at a deli that Chuck loves. Then he did laundry. Now he's putting a crib together.

No rest for the weary, or dads, right?

Anyway, it's pretty perfect that the day has gone like this because it demonstrates one of the reasons why Chuck is a great dad. He has a work-ethic that just won't quit - he will do anything for our family. Other reasons why Chuck is a great Dad:

• his sense of humor
• his cuddliness
• his sense of adventure
• his calm personality

He is the best role model for our soon-to-be two kids that I could hope for.

Thanks, Chuck, for all you do. Love, Sweetie

Our Son, the Stalker

Last week at our party for Bernice's 75th Birthday:
Jackson to every single guest at least twice: What your last name is?
Most guests: Van Nostrand
Jackson: (smile) Banjostrand!

Thursday night at Target:
Jackson to cashier: What your name is?
Cashier: Casssidy (Okay, I don't really remember her name, but Cassidy is the first thing that came to my mind so we'll go with that.)
Jackson: What your LAST name is?

Last night while trying to fall asleep (him, not me):
Jackson: errrmmnnnn....errrrrmmmnnnnnn....hmmmmmm...Cwadiaaaaa....Maaaaren. (Claudia and Maren are two of the girls in his daycare. Apparently he likes them.)

Full Term

So it's official - the baby is full-term today (37 weeks). My c-section is scheduled for 2 weeks from this morning! Exciting! We are getting all the clothes washed, gear readied, diapers ordered, etc.

Jack learned this morning that the baby will not eat food, and then got a very generic version of how the baby WILL eat. I think it freaked him out. He also was talking to the baby and told him that he (the baby) will wear baby clothes and that he'll sleep in the nursery. I thought that was really sweet until I realized that the baby will most likely NOT sleep in the nursery right away. So I said "well, eventually the baby will sleep in the nursery but right away he'll probably have to sleep...ummm...somewhere else." Jack said "why?" and I said "because Mommy will be feeding him so much that it'll just be easier if he sleeps *cough*inmommyanddaddy'sroom*cough*."

He didn't comment. Hmmm.

Blackmail

This is supposed to be the months in Spanish. Apparently the calendar has changed and now Fall is a never-ending cycle of September and October, or September and eight of something - I'm not really sure.

New Phrases & Concepts

Jack has added some cute phrases to his repertoire recently. The phrases themselves aren't that cute, but coming out of his mouth they are adorable (to me):

If you ask him to do something he frequently says "ummm...sure me can" or "ummmm...sure me do." If he needs to go get a toy from another room he says "me need get one thing - me be right back." If he's being crazy and jumping all over us, he rolls off eventually and says "WOW - dat awesome fun!" If he's about to touch the kitty (read: grab by her tail and lift her into the air), he says "me be bery gentle with she." When he talks about Daddy, it usually includes some mention of the fact that "him have two hammers and drill and he's a work man."

Also some new concepts, a few of which were planted in his head by Chuck and me:

He won't grow at all unless he sleeps at night. Broccoli makes him big and strong. (He asks us about every food he eats and whether it will make him big and strong.) If he keeps the refrigerator door open he won't be able to have ketchup anymore.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to say that there is a deeper concept that he is developing without even knowing it - that not all presidents have to be white men, that that's not a forgone conclusion. It gives me goose bumps to think about how powerful that is. Some members of my generation (and my parents') grew up knowing that there were other qualified people out there, but also thinking that they wouldn't be elected - ever. It just wouldn't happen in our lifetimes. And now that it's a strong possibility, our thoughts turn to whether that puts Barack in a very dangerous position, given what has happened to many prominent African American activists and politicians in U.S. history. But our kids just know him as another leader. A person who has ideas and talks about them and has a chance just like anyone else to lead this nation. Period. I love that innocence - not sure if that's the right word even - and hope it stays with Jack and his brother and their peers because they won't have known a country in which it wasn't even feasible that Barack would have gotten to this point.

And I love that the questions we will field from Jack about Barack in the coming months will not be centered on race or perceived religion, they will be on the following: whether he's at a caucus today, whether he eats broccoli, whether he sleeps all night, whether his fridge works and whether it has ketchup in it, whether he wears underwear, and whether he's a good driver. I mean, aren't those more relevant anyway?

Wild Kingdom

A list of things that are currently living in our backyard or were ushered on to the Promised Land yesterday:

1) at least 3 really large rabbits - "big ones" as Jack calls them
2) a family of robins and their 3 eggs
3) a baby hawk
4) the most box elder bugs (spelling?) I have ever seen in my life - all of them mating
5) a bunch of hornets
6) a ton of ants and their soon-to-be-born babies

Last year we also had a bat and a frog. Maybe they'll arrive today.

The Van Nostrand Nature Reserve. I would have been content with our fake Rooster.

Nursery update

*Note - I have updated our Flickr photostream to include 2 new sets - the first is Seuss Nursery and the second is Flowers & Hail. The hail ones were taken last night during the worst hail storm Chuck and I have ever seen - it was nuts. Anyway, check them both out!

I haven't been very good about updates on the nursery, so here goes.

A long time ago in a place far far away (St. Louis) two families became such good friends that their grandchildren would believe for most of their childhoods that they were actually related. The two granddaughters, not having seen eachother for most of their lives, both ended up living in the Twin Cities. I am one of the granddaughters, obviously.

As I started thinking about what to do for our nursery, my mom brought up the fact that Marianne, the other granddaughter, lived up here and happened to do murals as a hobby. We got in contact and a few months later, as I'm writing this, Marianne is in the nursery putting up a Dr. Seuss mural. I can't decide which is more fun - the mural or the reminiscing and piecing together of family histories.

We picked "Oh the Places You'll Go" as our theme. It's gorgeous and we love it.

Here's Marianne a few seconds ago, painting away. For other pictures, check out our Flickr link to the right.